This application relates to a heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) system in which conditioned air is delivered to a plurality of climate controlled zones, and wherein a monitoring and diagnostic test procedure is provided for system components associated with each of the climate controlled zones.
Refrigerant systems are known, and are utilized in many applications, such as air conditioning, refrigeration and heat pump systems, to condition (maintain the temperature and humidity) of air being delivered into a climate controlled environment. Other secondary fluids (rather than air), such as water or glycol, can be utilized as well. A single refrigerant system that provides conditioned air to a plurality of distinct climate controlled zones is not an uncommon application in the modern HVAC&R field. As an example, the climate controlled zones may be different rooms or offices within a single building or different refrigeration compartments kept at different temperatures. Each of the climate controlled zones is typically provided with individual controls such that an occupant of the particular zone can demand a desired temperature and/or humidity as well as fresh air amount.
In such a complex refrigerant system, it is difficult to diagnose a malfunctioning system component. Since a single refrigerant system provides comfort to different climate controlled zones, any number of zones may be associated with properly functioning equipment, while one of the climate controlled zones may be associated with a malfunctioning component. If such a problem is not identified and isolated in a timely manner, the malfunctioning or broken component can cause secondary system damage to other components. Also, malfunctioning equipment in one zone may affect operation of system components in the other zones causing discomfort to the clime controlled zone occupants. Typically, such a malfunctioning component could be associated with internal refrigerant circuitry (e.g. valves or heat exchangers), or could be an external air side component (e.g. dampers or air side economizers).
Some multi-zone systems have dedicated refrigerant circuit components such as heat exchangers or valves, and air side components such as dampers or economizers, associated with each zone. These components could malfunction, and it is a difficult task to pinpoint the root cause of a problem during troubleshooting in a timely and cost effective manner.